A PRIMARY school in Thornbury is celebrating the construction of a new £150,000 classroom, built over the summer in time for the new school year.

With numbers having increased dramatically in recent years, the school was in need of more space and asked South Gloucestershire Council for help in accommodating their pupils.

The council responded with the proposal to build a new external classroom, which the school readily accepted.

With the opening of the new room at the beginning of this year, Christ the King is finally now a one form entry primary school with a classroom for each year group.

The build, which houses the year three class, also includes toilets, an interactive whiteboard and, most importantly during the warmer months, air conditioning.

“We are really excited as a school,” said head teacher Mary Mainwaring.

“We have been gradually expanding over the past few years and are now a one form entry primary which is brilliant for the future of the school.

“This project has been in the making for the past two years so I can’t fully believe we have finally got here.

“Our school motto is ‘Making a Difference’, and the new class will definitely do just that.

“Because South Gloucestershire Council funded the whole project, it has not affected our budget at all, which is fantastic.

“They have been very supportive of us through the whole journey so a big thank you goes out to them.

“The other classes are very jealous of year three,” she joked. “But we are currently working on a refurbishment project across the whole school so hopefully they won’t be jealous for long.”

“It is so nice to have the new building,” said year three teacher Rebecca Stephens.

“Since I started at the school, we have doubled our classrooms for key stage two from two to four.

“Everything is brand new and they love using everything, they are really looking after it all as they know it is brand new.

A South Gloucestershire Council spokeswoman said: “Over the summer holidays the finishing touches have been made to Christ the King’s new modular classroom.

“The new facility has been added to the existing school site to provide extra space for children who attend this popular local school.

“The new classroom means the school will now be able to cater for up to 30 pupils in a class, which is good news for everyone at the school.”